Below is a real post from a school bus driver on a school bus fleet magazine online forum.
“So, this past year I started worked for a new bus company. Our old company was extremely safety oriented. Our busses didn’t even leave the lot if they had a headlight out. This new company however is slightly lacking. The first year, I let things slide, telling myself they were just getting into the swing of things. However, nothing has changed.
Our busses leave the lot with headlights/taillights out, which may be minor, I don’t know. But now, for the second time, I’ve been told that when taking a charter (after school trips/sporting events etc…) the stop arms and cross arms do not have to work…. or even be used! Now this I have issues with. Many times the group is dropped off on the street, in front of schools, in parking lots, across the street from a location, etc.…. making it necessary to use the 4 ways to stop traffic. I take my job seriously and knowing the bus driver is always the first blamed in any type of accident, I refuse to use these busses. But other drivers use them.
I am currently driving a bus with (what I feel like) is a faulty emergency brake. You can drive it down the road with the brake still engaged. But how do I refuse to drive my bus route every day until they fix the brake when the mechanic says it’s ok? I can’t afford to quit my job, but this company’s lack of safety worries me.”
As Virginia bus accident injury attorneys this worries us as well. When a bus driver ignores clear indicators that the bus’s equipment is faulty and a crash results, that bus driver may be personally liable for any injuries passengers or other motorists sustain, though this is clearly not the case for the bus driver quoted above. It is also true for a company that fails to properly maintain its fleet of buses can also be held responsible for injuries that occur in a bus crash.